New MaineCare Coverage for Federally Non-Qualified Children Under 21 and Pregnant People 

Jul 01, 2022

Per P.L. 2021, Ch. 398 and P.L. 2021, Ch. 398, Part DDD, An Act Making Unified Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government, General Fund and Other Funds and Changing Certain Provisions of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 2021, June 30, 2022, and June 30, 2023.

The Department has established MaineCare eligibility groups for:

• children under 21 years of age who would be otherwise eligible for federal Medicaid benefits but are not eligible due to their immigration status.
• pregnant people who are not eligible for federal Medicaid benefits due to their immigration status, but are able to receive coverage under the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The Department will process MaineCare-covered claims for eligible members for dates of service beginning July 1, 2022.

Members eligible for these new benefits will appear on the Health PAS Online Portal as eligible for full MaineCare coverage. The Department has automatically made some members eligible for these coverages who in the past were only eligible for Emergency Services (“Emergency MaineCare”) and whose eligibility would have previously displayed on the provider portal as Defined Emergency Services Only.

The Department only shares information related to immigration status when allowed or required by Federal law, such as to verify an attested eligible immigration status. Immigrants who are living in the U.S. without the knowledge or approval of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are not required to provide documentation, nor does the Department attempt to verify documentation with USCIS. 

You can find information about applying for MaineCare coverage on the Office for Family Independence (OFI) webpage. For questions about eligibility, please contact the Office for Family Independence (OFI) at (855) 797-4357.